Requiem Murder Part 34

"I know you're still here and I'll find you."

I reached the last step and prepared to dash for freedom. Her hand clamped on my arm.

"Mrs. Miller, how nice of you to come."

My heart pounded. The rush of blood in my ears was so loud I could barely hear. I turned to face her. "I know what you did, but I had to be sure." She laughed, a high piercing sound that raised gooseflesh. I shuddered. Ten o'clock. I told him to be here then.

"I couldn't let him choose her. I couldn't let Tom hurt her."

"But he did."

She jerked me forward until we were inches apart. "He won't hurt me again. He needed his energy for

music. No, that's not right." She giggled. "I kissed and caressed him but he wouldn't touch me except once when he was drunk."

I a.s.sessed my chances of escape. Her grip on my arm tightened. She pulled me into the sanctuary.

"He's here. I know he is. Shadow's waiting but that's not how it happened. He shouldn't be here until his host arrives."

"Roger isn't coming. He died yesterday when he fell from the choir loft because the cat startled him."

She laughed. "He didn't scream. His mouth opened and closed like a fish's. I used Beth's scarf. She left it at my house. I walked up the stairs. Shadow followed. We practiced every day the week before the

Evensong. I tossed the scarf on the organ. Shadow jumped after it." Her laughter echoed in the vast s.p.a.ce. "He tried to back away but there was no place to go."

She dragged me toward the stairs. I tried to grab the back of one of the pews but my hands slipped.

"They'll find Beth's scarf and blame her. Don't you think that's fair? She tried to take him from me. He's

always been mine. Years ago and now. That policeman knows all about Beth and Roger."

"You're wrong. Beth worked late at the hospital. Besides, the police think it was an accident."

"It was. It was." She giggled. "Daddy, I didn't mean to trip him. He's just clumsy." She tugged on my

arm. "You have to come with me. He's waiting."

When I tried to talk, my lower lip trembled. I sucked in a breath. "Who's waiting and why do I have to come?" "Because you won't believe me. You never do. You slipped on the ice and broke your head. Should have been your back. I stepped on every crack."

"Judith, what are you talking about?"

"Tom fell down and broke his crown. Roger fell and broke his head. You will, too."

Her eyes glittered with madness. My knees buckled and I nearly fell.

"You're not afraid of cats." She laughed. "You should be. Curiosity kills --"

"Mrs. M," Pete called. "Are you in here?"

"I'm --"

Judith clamped her hand over my mouth. I tried to bite her.

"You should have stayed at home," she whispered.

The sanctuary door banged against the wall. Judith jerked. The light flared on.

She began to cry. "He hurt me. He hurt me but you never believe anything I say." Her hand slipped from

my arm. "Dead, dead. I'm glad he's dead. He took my dreams and made them his but he didn't get to

keep them. He fell down the stairs and he's dead." She sank to the floor and curled into a fetal position.

"Why won't you believe me?"

I knelt on the cold stone floor. "I believe you. He won't hurt you again."

She looked up and smiled. "He's dead. He fell down the steps. Then he came back and he was afraid of

cats. You're dead, too. You slipped on the ice but I didn't push you." She put her thumb in her mouth and began to hum.

Pete reached me. Edward was on his heels. Pete helped me to my feet.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Katherine, whatever happened?"

I rested my head against Pete's shoulder. "I'll tell you later. Edward, have Mary call the high school for

Martin. Let him know Judith's here and she needs him. Have him leave a message for Marcie to come to

my house after school. Then call Andrew and tell him Judith's had a breakdown. He'll know the best

place for treatment."

After Edward bustled off, I sank on one of the pews. My body shook and I gulped breaths of air.

"Did she push him?" Pete asked.

I pointed to the choir loft. The gray cat sat on the organ console. "That's what pushed him. I told you

about his phobia. She lured the cat into the church with catnip."

"Thus Beth's scarf."

"You've got it." I told him the things Judith had said. "She confused him with someone, maybe her

brother."

Pete shook his head. "Diabolical and definitely not sane. Will she get better?"

"Recovering might be too painful. She's been sick a long time."

Were the deaths she'd mentioned actual or products of her twisted mind? I believe she'd been s.e.xually

a.s.saulted years ago and I knew she was capable of plotting murder. The whole story might never be known and that could be the best solution.

A short time later, Martin rushed down the aisle. "What happened?" His eyes widened. "Is she dead?"

"She's had a complete breakdown. Andrew's on his way."

"Did she try to kill herself?"

I shook my head and related what had occurred. He groaned and put his hands to his face. Then he smiled.

"She did it for Marcie. I know she did."

"Maybe you're right. She's going to need a lot of help."

"With her drinking."

"For more than that."

He knelt and stroked her arm. "How could one man create such havoc?"

"I don't know. Only Judith knows what happened. It'll be a long time before she can tell us."

He looked at Pete. "Will she be charged?"

"I don't know. In the state she's in, right now, she's not capable of standing trial. And there's the

problem of proving she intended to kill him. She might have thought bringing the cat was a joke."

Just then, Andrew strode into the sanctuary. He examined Judith and rose. "Edward's calling an

ambulance. I've spoken to the doctor at Kinurst. She'll have the best care there." He grasped my arm.

"Did you put yourself in danger again?"

"Not a bit."

Pete laughed. "Your mother's indestructible. Besides, I had my eye on her."

Sure he did. There was no sense in Andrew to knowing about my recent escape. He'd start talking about

his latest idea for his mother's safe living -- a retirement apartment complex being planned for the area.

I'm not ready for sheltered living.

Once the ambulance arrived, Martin and Andrew left. Martin promised to call from the hospital and talk to Marcie about her mother.